Interview: Madmans Esprit
Hi guys!
As we are currently preparing releases to bring MADMANS ESPRITs music to Europe and the world,
we took some time to ask Madmans Esprit s Kyuho to answer some of your questions!
Surely, after this interview you will know him, his goals and his music quite a bit better and you might even realize some stunning similarities between the musician and yourself? Who knows!
Let's get started!
Q: Thank you for giving us the possibility to do this interview!
Fans will be eager to know more about you and as you are about music, let's start with this.
So, when and why have you started to create music?
Kyuho: I basically quit middle school around age 13 and as soon as I came out of there, I started a band. It all happened very naturally with my interest in music, my parent’s deep understanding of various musical genres and the hatred towards the majority’s society.
Q: Oh wow that was quite soon!
Did you have any role-models at that time and who are your role-models now? Kyuho: Hide was and is one of my favorite musicians, I started playing guitar listening to almost only X-JAPAN and Hide, when I realized that he died and Visual kei before and after him is something completely different, I was pretty devastated. I appreciate the existence of Kyo from Dir en grey and Niklas from Shining(swe), a few ‘real’ artists in the world in my opinion. But I don’t have any role-model that I want to be like a certain person.
Q: X Japan and the beginning of Visual Kei. - great times! How did you first get into VK? Kyuho: Listening to X-JAPAN, I was fascinated by their violent and emotional energy, I moved to Dir en grey later on. I still listen to both of them but I’m not quite happy with what VK has become nowadays.
Q: VK is a "Japanese" genre, so can you tell us how it has been like to be doing VK in Korea? Kyuho: Absolute loneliness. No one wanted to play this freak music.
Q: Oh wow... it must have been difficult... none the less you have created an amazing mix that people all over the world are getting to know and love, so how do you feel your korean culture and vkeis japanese influence and rocks western elemens come together in your work? Kyuho: I think it creates a certain originality. I am actually a big fan of Korean traditional music 판소리 and its singing style, it influenced how I sing a lot. I of course feel the beauty of Korean language and I feel most confident with Korean language about how to destroy and recreate it. Japanese music’s creativity and European metal music’s extremeness and my ‘being Korean’ are all mixed in Madmans Esprit.
Q: Let's have a look into a great future for Madmans Esprit - if you could work with any artist, who would you want to collaborate with? Kyuho: Dir en grey and sukekiyo. But If I could I would also like to work together with some fashion industry or independent designers. Expressing my musical ideas into fashion that people can wear sounds like a wonderful thing. And also if I could work together with video makers, there could be some interesting outcome I think.
Q: You sure are a multi-talent and we hope you will get the chance to work with people from other industries and create even more.
Talking about talent, how come you have learned so many languages? And when did you decide to include them in your music? Kyuho: I don’t know how. I think when I like something from the culture, I always try to listen and copy how the language from that culture works automatically. To understand. Like babies do. I barely study just to understand how the grammar works and stuff. Then at some point I find out some language works better with a certain rhythm or melody and I just use them there. It’s like using different instruments to express different feelings even if it’s the same note.
Q: That really is amazing...
let's talk a bit more about your sound - your look and MVs are dark and exciting, and your sound is quite unique. Could you introduce your concept and Madmans Esprits worldview a bit more?
Kyuho: I don’t have a specific concept before I do anything, it’s always what comes out naturally from myself. So my worldview is Madmans Esprit’s worldview. To my eyes, the world is repulsive, humans are disgusting, so am I. Yet they are beautiful. That’s why it’s sad. That’s why I’m full of hatred of the others and myself.
Q: This surely fits the VK style, although interpreted in a very unique way.
Speaking about your sound, what has it been like to do all the vocals, playing, recording and mastering by yourself? Kyuho: It is of course exhausting, that I have no one to rely on. But in a way, some things have to be done purely by myself to express exactly what I want. It just happened because I literally couldn’t find anyone who wants to do Madmans Esprit with me.
Q: Well, maybe that is going to change in the future!
Talking about the future, what is your biggest wish? Kyuho: Being alive gracefully.
Q: A very poetic thing to say, indeed.
We are coming to an end, so could you please leave a message to our readers and your fans reading this? Kyuho: Thank you very much for all of your support and love. I hope you know me better now. I finally feel like something is happening. Keep it going, bye.
